<p>“Again, having A/V software and not opening potential virus-infected files (usually email attachments) and not going to questionable websites will generally keep the computer quite safe.”</p>
<p>Unfortunately viruses and worms are getting ever more sophisticated and they are affecting legitimate websites (like CNET) and the mere act of logging onto a network or plugging in an infected flash drive can result in infection. On my Windows systems, I usually run weekly scans, run Windows Defender, Spybot S&D, AntiVirus, and regular scans from other vendors. The result is that I’m using Windows systems less and less and Mac OS X about 99% of the time.</p>
<p>The relatively new Conficker worm is an example of a new breed of worm which tries brute force password attacks on computers in a network so it helps to have strong passwords for your accounts. The research work that I’ve seen on Conficker demonstrates a level of sophistication that I haven’t seen before in a worm using multiple vectors for infection and then closing those vectors so that the system appears to be patched. The last research report that I read said that current anti-malware products do not detect Conficker [it’s a hard problem because it has multiple ways to hide itself].</p>
<p>Also keep up with Windows Updates. There was a Windows Update last fall that would protect against the first vector of Conficker.</p>